The Droste Effect is the name of a visual technique where there is a recursive image within an image. It gets its name from Droste Cocoa Brand, which is a Dutch cocoa.
On the labeling of their tin, they have a woman holding a tray with their hot chocolate on it, along with their tin. Of course, on the small tin of cocoa, there is the same woman holding the tray with the hot cocoa.
Of course, there is limited space on the tin so it is impossible to have multiple more of these images ‘deeper’ within the tin, but one can imagine that there is an infinite number of pictures of this woman holding a tray with a tin of Droste Cocoa on it.
This type of visual trick has been used in branding, art, and much more for many years because it is not only visually attractive, but it also draws the viewer in and makes them think more about it.
This, of course, is good for branding.
Modern technology has allowed people to make more and more elaborate images with the Droste Effect. Thanks to machines being able to make pictures with extremely detailed writing, they can have this effect go multiple layers deep.
When you introduce video or animation to the technique, however, it can truly go on infinitely.
One fun example of this that takes the Droste Effect in an entirely different direction was made by Henry Segerman, who filmed himself in a video that can endlessly loop, harnessing the mind-bending effect of this track very well.
Check it out here:
This is hard to wrap your mind around.
If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.